| 38 | if fairytales are real

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If fairytales are real then she is the kind of princess no prince or king could ever handle. She was not made for ballgowns and parties but for battlefields and saddles. - Nikita Gill

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- Victorine -

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- Victorine -

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Victorine is not a coward. She is loyal and strong and kind-hearted. She will make this dark world a better place one day by stopping the right person.

There was almost dead silence in the throne room. Except for my mother's voice echoing in my head over and over. And except for Crescentia's loud, choked breathing.

My sister sank to her knees. She had her wide gaze fixed down on her chest.

At the edge of my consciousness, I realized Nicolas moving again beside me. He pushed past me and stepped forward, stepping past my sister and heading toward Cephas.

Meaningless. My eyes were immediately back on my sister. Hesitantly, I took a few small steps forward.

I should feel satisfaction, or at least a touch of satisfaction. I would have to think of all that Crescentia had done wrong. Of my parents. Of my long journey that I had taken for them for nothing. Of Deidamia, who had died on the way to her. Of how she had supported Cephas in my torture.

But I didn't feel any of that. I felt heartbreak and horror and a grief that was tearing me apart. I felt guilt that was even now eating deep into my guts and would hold me clutched for the rest of my life.

By the time I reached Crescentia, my fingers were trembling and my eyes were filled with tears. As I blinked, wet drops ran down my cheeks and my vision cleared.

My sister toppled over backwards. Facing the ceiling, she lay on the floor until I knelt down to her and pulled her head onto my legs.

Crescentia was still alive. Her eyes were clearly fixed on me. My tears fell on her beautiful face and tender skin, but still she did not flinch.

This was all my fault. If I had paid more attention to my little sister, maybe none of this would have happened. If she hadn't felt like she was invisible and insignificant, then maybe the urge for power wouldn't have arisen in her. If I had tried to truly understand her, then she would not have come to hate me.

I was aware that I was largely to blame for her development. But I also knew that Crescentia still did not deserve my blind loyalty. It had been her decision to kill her family. It had been her will to harm others in order to gain more power herself.

My loyalty was deserved by my kingdom. My dead parents and the fallen soldiers Crescentia had been responsible for. My loyalty was to all of Spero. The witches. And Nicolas.

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